


Taiga

by cygnus1123, Mirabitur



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Awesome Darcy Lewis, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Dragon Bucky Barnes, Dragons, F/M, Magic!Darcy, Protective Bucky Barnes, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, Witch!Darcy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-03-06 13:06:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13411866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cygnus1123/pseuds/cygnus1123, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mirabitur/pseuds/Mirabitur
Summary: Darcy thinks that there might be a dragon in the woods outside of the Avengers Compound. Being the amazing human being that she is, she decides to help it. It totally has nothing to do with the fact that she wants to meet an actual facts dragon.Promise.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my awesome beta reader, cygnus1123, who has sat with me in the hallway, letting me chatter at her for hours. Love you, Gem.

“Alright, Mr. Dragon-in-the-woods…” Darcy said as she carefully picked her way through the underbrush. “Don’t mind me...”

This was possibly the most poorly thought out plan she had ever made, but, in her defence, it had seemed like a good idea at the time, and she was pretty sure that she was doing the right thing. 

Honestly, she was pretty sure that this was a bad idea, but it was easier to continue what she was doing rather than turning back and regretting it, so she kept on narrating as she walked.

“My name is Darcy Lewis. I am kind of assuming that you can hear me, with your super senses and whatever, though if I’m wrong, I’m going to be very embarrassed. A little spider told me that someone out here could use some medical attention, but didn’t feel like playing nice with the medical staff.” 

She paused, and quirked her head. 

“Well, I say that she told me…. It’s possible that she wasn’t actually talking to me. But come on! She’s the Black Widow! There’s no way she didn’t know that I was there! That’s practically encouragement!” She was getting off topic. She was  _ supposed _ to be convincing the dragon not to kill her on sight. She wasn’t dead yet, so…. Success? 

“So, anyway, I overheard the avengers talking, and they said you followed them home? And that you are a friendly, but you didn’t want to go all the way back to the compound to have someone help you heal. It was something along those lines…” She panted lightly as she made her way through the underbrush. Her pack was heavy and exercise was hard. 

“I thought I might be able to help you!” Darcy said, in a voice approximating cheer. Winded cheer. “Not that I have any medical training, but I thought someone could clean your wounds and all that… I brought towels of varying sorts, and some water.” That was probably the reason her bag was so heavy. Ugh. At least it wouldn’t be so hard to carry on the trip back.

“I also got some cold cuts, in case you get hungry while I’m treating you… Because you’re a carnivore, right? But- you don’t want to eat me! I’m not- I wouldn’t be well marbled at all! The cold cuts are obviously the safer choice!”  _ Good going, Darcy. Even if you are telling him how bad you would taste, you’re still drawing attention to the way you taste! Just shut your fool mouth! _

“You wouldn’t be able to enjoy eating me anyway.” _ God, you can’t, can you. You really can’t keep your damn mouth shut.  _

“They would notice me missing. I’m important to them! Well, Jane. I’m important to Jane. She would notice me missing, eventually. And Thor! If he got back, and I was gone, he would be  _ super _ pissed. We’re, like, bros. He calls me his lightning sister.” _ Way to undermine your own point here, genius. ‘Yeah, if you eat me, someone will eventually notice I’m gone and get mad.’ Good going. Such a scary threat.  _

“Just, uh, don’t eat me, and we’ll all be fine. There’s no need to bring the wrath of a god down on your head...” God, where was this clearing supposed to be? She had to be close.

“But, um, on the note of wrath. Maybe you could give me a small sign if you don’t want me here? Like, before you go and eat me, because that would be a really big sign. Maybe a growl is small enough? Yeah- growl, and I’ll stop.” She looked around nervously, straining her ears for any discontented noises. She couldn’t promise that she would actually turn around and leave if he wanted her to stop, but she could stop her advance and plead her case. But this was a  _ dragon _ . An actual-facts dragon! She wasn’t sure that she could let this opportunity go. 

“But, uh, I’d really like to meet you, if that’s alright.” 

\-----

He hurt. He had managed to find a nice clearing to rest, with a small pile of rocks at his back to afford him some cover, but he was still left licking his wounds. 

The sun was warm along his back, but still, he felt cold. Some part of him knew that there should be a warmth in his chest, a blaze of power at the very center of his being, but he struggled to even find an ember or a spark. He felt so cold and empty and alo- 

No! Not alone, there was a voice! An unfamiliar sound of kindness floated to him on the wind. 

Over the noise of the forest around him, he could make out the dulcet tones of a lady-child. Or, was it a child? Maybe just a Lady. She was…. Calling out to him. How strange, that she would approach, even knowing that he was unwell. She was either very fierce, or very foolish. 

_ Fools make feasts and wise men eat them _ .

What was that? That wasn’t him… But a feast… A feast did sound nice. He wondered if the Lady would bring him a feast. She said she had food. It was to be… an offering? To assuage his wrath? He wasn’t sure that there was any wrath left in him, just weariness. 

He was so tired and alone, and wouldn’t mind the company, if she did, in fact, wish to meet him. He could offer her that much.

\----

Aha! She had found it! This had to be the clearing, right? How many vaguely oval-shaped clearings with boulder piles could one forest have? 

She had certainly been wandering around for long enough. It wasn’t that her destination was a significant distance from the base, but this wasn’t a new or carefully maintained forest. The flora and fauna of these parts followed the law of natural selection- survival of the fittest. As each bit of foliage fought for its place in the sun, the woods became denser and harder to traverse. Especially for someone who wasn’t all that inclined to the ‘great outdoors’ in the first place. Darcy, for example. 

She crept along the edge of the clearing, conveniently hidden behind the stone pile so the dragon couldn’t see her, but that also meant that she couldn’t see it. And that was the entire point. She wanted to see a motherfucking dragon.

She’d heard the stories, everyone had. About the mythical beings that used to roam alongside the humans. The stories varied, sure, but they all had the same core elements: dragons were large, scaly, and had immense and intricate magic. Some sources even said that dragons were the source of magic in the human population, but that was unsubstantiated, and seemed a little ridiculous to her. They also lived a really long time, probably due to their magic.

Darcy wondered how old her dragon was. 

This dragon. Not her dragon. One does not simply lay claim to a _ dragon _ . 

But it would be so cool. 

A dragon. A motherfucking dra-

Ahh!

Darcy fell back and cried out, mostly in shock, but there were trace amounts of fear and pain. She had been walking along the edge of the stone pile, hoping to catch a longer glimpse of the clearing, but the rock beneath her hands had shifted, and she had lost her balance. 

Darcy gazed up in awe at the beautiful sight before her. In front of her, gaze boring into her own, was the giant head of a dragon.

A motherfucking dragon. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten you guys, I promise!

It was large.

That was the first thing she noticed. As tall as a one-story house, though it was leaning down to look at her with its huge, colorless eyes. 

No, not colorless. As their gazes held, she could pick out the different lines of grey that came together to form the iris. She lay sprawled on the ground, almost spellbound, until the dragon blinked, hiding the hypnotizing orbs behind muted scales. The face was strong, the skull almost felinoid, and Darcy was close enough that she could see the individual scales. They were mostly uniform in color, a muted blue so faint it could be grey- or was it a blue-based grey? A silver? 

Yes, she decided. Her dragon was a muted silver. A uniform color, though not all of the scales were the same size or shape. Wide and flat scales covered the nose, while long scales made patterns along the horns at its crest. And the most delicate scales surrounded its eyes and the edge of its nose.

The dragon was the most magnificent being she had ever seen.

“You’re beautiful.” She said, the words coming through slack lips without her permission. 

The dragon preened. He wasn’t vain, necessarily, but a little compliment here or there didn’t hurt anyone. His scales are nice, he is well aware. He grew them himself. More than that, though, was the fact that he could smell that she was being truthful. Truth was good, he decided. He’d had far too much of lies.

“I thought you’d be bigger…” Again, Darcy’s traitorous mouth released the contents of her brain. The dragon puffed up in affront, and Darcy hastened to assure it that it was the perfect height and size, as if she was any kind of expert at that. 

There was an awkward lull as she trailed off. What now? Was the dragon able to hear her, when she had initially explained herself? Should she begin again?

“Hi.” She said, now shy in the presence of such a wondrous creature. “I- I’m Darcy Lewis.”

Darcy waited expectantly before wondering why exactly she was expecting some kind of verbal response. Whether dragons were physically capable of human speech or not, why would he deign to speak to her?

Just when she was about to continue, there was a strange pressure in her head, and then a pop of ernest puzzlement as the barriers around her mind gave way. Darcy sat in shock for a moment before having an internal fangirl moment.

A dragon had just spoken to her. In her mind. 

This was the greatest day ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was short, but I'll be updating with another chapter soon, I hope.


End file.
